Tish Oney's Music Blog

My career path has opened up into a place in which I have the unique opportunity to create concerts honoring pioneers of the music that resonates deep within my soul. Not many performers have these amazing and challenging opportunities, so I consider the responsibility of caring for the music as it is delivered to the audience to be sacred and extremely meaningful. Artists and composers about whom I have created, arranged, and performed concerts in the past include Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmy Van Heusen, Peggy Lee, Jerome Kern, and J.S. Bach, among countless compilation performances honoring multiple music masters. My next concert celebration, occurring this weekend, consists of performing the passionate and unparalleled Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi at The Peace Center with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra and the Greenville Chorale, conducted by Edvard Tchivzhel. Just two weeks later I will be fronting the best jazz band in Upstate South Carolina, the Greenville Jazz Collective Contemporar...

What an eventful year this has been! Every late December I like to reflect upon the previous twelve months in an effort to learn from the past and present. Hopefully, those lessons will inform the future! What can I learn from this past year that could make 2014 that much more efficient, successful, fulfilling and rewarding? Hmm... First, I need to schedule time to nurture family and friend relationships. All things worth doing require a time commitment, and it is easy for those submerged in more work than they can reasonably accomplish to push more important things aside. Second, I would like to allow for distractions in my day when they involve helping someone else. Our schedules and to-do lists should never trump our generosity and kindness which others desperately need! Third, on a more personal level, I plan to package into my schedule time to unplug. We Americans seem to move so fast from one thing to the next that savoring beautiful things is an activity rarely cultiva...

How does an active performer/teacher find balance among touring, writing, arranging, teaching, traveling, practicing, booking tours and learning music? Furthermore, how does one balance all that with a healthy home life, mental and emotional health, physical health and spirituality? Any busy artist can tell you it is certainly not easy. I have found prayer and meditation to be critically important in helping me keep my busy life in perspective. Firstly, I strive to do everything for God's glory--after all, He is the one responsible for the gifts I possess, and it is my responsibility to share those gifts with the world to the best of my ability. Reminding myself of this helps me also remember that whatever I am currently facing is possible with His help. That means I must take care of myself when I begin to lose my balance. Too much stress can wreak havoc on physical and emotional health, so it is imperative to find ways to manage and release my stress whenever possible. Ph...